The Montreal Canadiens (Les Canadiens de Montréal) are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The club is officially known as le Club de hockey Canadien.[1]
French nicknames for the team include Les Canadiens (or Le Canadien), Le Bleu-Blanc-et-Rouge, La Sainte-Flanelle,[2]Le Tricolore, Les Glorieux (or Nos Glorieux), Les Habitants, Le CH and Le Grand Club. In English, the team's main nickname is the Habs, an abbreviation of "Les Habitants". (Note: Even in English, the French spelling, Canadiens, is always used.)

Founded in 1909, the Canadiens are the longest continuously operating professional ice hockey team and the only existing NHL club to predate the founding of the NHL, as well as one of the oldest North American sports franchises. The franchise is one of the "Original Six" teams, a description used for teams that were part of the NHL from 1942 until the 1967 expansion. With the departure of the Quebec Nordiques in 1995, the Canadiens are the sole NHL team in Quebec. The team's championship season in 1992–93 marks the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup.[3]

The Canadiens have won 24 Stanley Cups (including their first in 1916, before the NHL existed), more than any other team.[4] On a percentage basis, as of 2010, the franchise has won 25% of all Stanley Cup championships contested after the Challenge Cup era, making it one of the most successful professional sports teams of the traditional four major sports of Canada and the United States.[5]

In the 1930s, the club started the decade with success with Stanley Cups in 1930 and 1931. However, the club and its then Montreal rival, the Montreal Maroons declined both on the ice and economically during the Depression. Losses grew to the point where the team owners considering selling the team to Cleveland, Ohio interests. However, local investors were found and instead it was the Maroons that suspended operations, and several of the Maroons players moved to the Canadiens.

The Canadiens won Stanley Cups in 1986, led by rookie star goaltender Patrick Roy,[8] and in 1993,[8] continuing their streak of winning at least one championship in every decade from the 1910s to the 1990s. In 1996, the Habs moved from the Montreal Forum, their home during 71 seasons and 22 Stanley Cups, to the Molson Centre (now the Bell Centre).[8]

On December 29, 2008 the Canadiens won 5-2 over the Florida Panthers to become the first team in NHL history to reach 3,000 victories.

100th Anniversary commemorative Loonie coin issued by Royal Canadian Mint

Pour toujours, les Canadiens! is a 2009 Quebec feature film about the centennial celebrations, written by Jacques Savoie and directed by Sylvain Archambault. The film debuted in theatres on December 4, 2009, the Canadiens' centennial.[13][14].

==2013==

Le Canadien in the playoffs against Ottawa Senators. They lose 1st match at the Bell Centre 2-4. Canadien had finished 2nd in the East Conference, les Senateurs 7th.

The current team colours are red, blue and white. These colours have been used in combination since 1914. The Canadiens' colours are an important part of French Canadian culture. In the short story "The Hockey Sweater", Roch Carrier described the influence of the Canadiens and their jersey within rural Quebec communities during the 1940s.[15]
The story was later made into an animated short, The Sweater, narrated by Carrier.[16]
A passage from the short appears on the 2002 issue of the Canadian five dollar bill.[17][18]

One of sport's oldest and most recognizable logos, the classic 'C' and 'H' of the Montreal Canadiens was first used together in the 1917–18 season, when the club changed its name to Club de hockey Canadien from Club athlétique Canadien,[19] before evolving to its current form in 1952–53. The 'H' does not stand for 'Habs' or Habitants; this is a misconception. It actually stands for 'Hockey', as in 'Club de hockey Canadien', the official name of the team. According to NHL.com, the first man to refer to the team as "the Habs" was American Tex Rickard, owner of the Madison Square Garden, in 1924. Rickard apparently told a reporter that the "H" on the Canadiens' sweaters was for "Habitants."[20]

The home Hockey jersey is predominantly red in colour. There are four blue and white stripes, one across each arm, one across the chest and the other across the waist. The main road sweater is mainly white with a red and blue stripe across the waist, red at the end of both arm sleeves and the shoulders are also draped with red. The basic design has been in use since 1914, with the current version dating from 1952. Because of the team's lengthy history and significance in Quebec, the sweater has been referred to as 'La Sainte-Flanelle' (the holy flannel sweater).[2]

Beginning in the 2004–05 NHL season, the Canadiens adopted Youppi as their official mascot, the first costumed mascot in their long history. Youppi was the longtime mascot for the Montreal Expos baseball team, but was dropped from the franchise when they moved to Washington, D.C. in 2004 and became the Washington Nationals. With the switch, Youppi became the first mascot in professional sports to switch leagues.[21]
The terms of the deal was reportedly in the six figures.[22]

The team has previously had children as mascots who would skate with the team during warm-ups and during intermissions. One notable child mascot was the son of player Howie Morenz, Howie Morenz Jr. Other mascots were typically the children of players or Canadiens management.

In the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Canadiens boast the second-most enshrined Hall-of-Famers with forty-two. All of their inductees are from Canada (defenceman Joe Hall was born in England but raised in Manitoba). Thirty-six of these players are from three separate notable dynasties: 12 from 1955–1960, 11 from 1964–1969 and 13 from 1975-1979. Howie Morenz and Georges Vezina were the first Canadiens given the honour in 1945, while Patrick Roy and Dick Duff were the most recently inducted, in 2006.

The Canadiens have retired fifteen numbers in honour of seventeen players,[122]
the most of any team in the National Hockey League, and the third highest total of any of the four major professional sports leagues of the United States and Canada. All of the honourees were born in Canada. Howie Morenz was the first honouree on November 2, 1937.

↑As of July 2008, the Boston Celtics have the highest percentage of National Basketball Association championships with 28%, and in Major League Baseball, the New York Yankees have the highest percentage with 25%.
NBA Finals: All-Time Champions. NBA Media Ventures. Retrieved on 2008-07-22.
World Series History: Championships by Club. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved on 2008-07-22.